Prestige Complimentary 4th Night (Not)

[GettingReady]

According to Prestige's pamphlet, on page 12, it states "Enjoy a complimentary 4th night for any hotel stay. Extend your stay with a complimentary night at any hotel of your choice when you book a minimum of four consecutive nights. There's no limit to the number of times you can use this benefit so go ahead and stay a little bit longer.

Meanwhile I called them and was told that the hotel I picked out, in a small town, was not part of their program. It has to be approved hotels. I think their advertisement is extremely misleading because it does not specify that anywhere that I can find. I have no problem if it needs to be certain hotels, but I think they should specify that in their advertisement.

I spoke with a CSR, who agreed with me and did a ticket, but she couldn't really do anything about it other than give me some TYP's. It's not a situation where I could expect to hear back from someone.

Additionally, as posted elsewhere, the cost was significantly higher at another hotel than what I could get if I booked directly, thus negating the so-called benefit of a free fourth night.

 

[sriki]

The free night is only available at properties that can be booked by the Carlson Wagonlit Travel. I think the hotels available on the below site would be more representative on where the free night benefit can be used.

http://www.cwtvacations.com/home.aspx?search=hotels

 

[GettingReady]

I understand that, Sriki. I I just think that their advertising should reflect that it's only properties that can be booked by Carlson rather than stating any hotel of your choice. Thanks for the link!

 

[sriki]

I understand that, Sriki. I I just think that their advertising should reflect that it's only properties that can be booked by Carlson rather than stating any hotel of your choice. Thanks for the link!

Part of my post vanished into thin air earlier. Let's try again. I recently applied for this card too and I went through the T&Cs. This is what I found. Though still ambiguous, it's closer to the reality.

You will enjoy a complimentary fourth night with no black-out dates, when you book four consecutive nights at any hotel booked by a personal travel advisor designated by MasterCard (the "designated travel advisor" is Carlson Wagonlit Travel). Bookings made through other methods such as, travel agents, websites or directly with a hotel will not qualify.


To receive your complimentary night (via a statement credit) you must:

• Make a reservation for a minimum, consecutive four-night stay by contacting the Citi Prestige Concierge, to book directly with a designated travel advisor
• Fully pay for your stay with a Citi Prestige Card

Receive one complimentary night (room rate for the fourth night and applicable taxes only) for any consecutive four-night hotel stay booked directly with a MasterCard designated travel advisor. Hotel imposed fees and incidental guest charges are the Cardmember's responsibility. The value of the complimentary night will be the actual rate, as provided by the designated travel advisor, on that fourth night of the reservation, even if the rate is different from the rate on other nights. Cardmember will be charged the total cost of the stay at checkout and will receive a credit to the credit card statement for the cost of the fourth night (and the applicable taxes). If the cardmember books a special "pre-paid" rate this may require upfront payment in full, at time of booking. Payment in full is defined as pre-payment for the total of all four consecutive nights. Only one complimentary night is eligible per each stay. A stay is consecutive nights booked and stayed on one reservation and does not include back-to back stays. Back-to back stays are stays at the same hotel booked on two reservations (as an example, you book four nights at a hotel on one reservation for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and book another four nights on another reservation for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In this situation, you would only be eligible for one complimentary night for the 8 night stay). Rates provided will be equal to or lower than the lowest publicly-available fare at the hotel's official website. The benefit can only be used by the primary account cardholder.

 

[GettingReady]

Aw, sorry about your post disappearing but thank you for taking the time to write, or dictate it, it again.

The thing is...it's not just booking a room by the designated travel agents, it's also booking a hotel that they have negotiated with. I totally get that it's a benefit and not one that they have to offer. They also have the right to whatever terms they want to use. However, they need to make it clear so it's not misleading to consumers and not use the words "any hotel of your choice" without a qualifer or footnote added.

 

[smittytabb]

Aw, sorry about your post disappearing but thank you for taking the time to write, or dictate it, it again.

The thing is...it's not just booking a room by the designated travel agents, it's also booking a hotel that they have negotiated with. I totally get that it's a benefit and not one that they have to offer. They also have the right to whatever terms they want to use. However, they need to make it clear so it's not misleading to consumers and not use the words "any hotel of your choice" without a qualifer or footnote added.

It's all on the website. Part of all of this involves getting used to reading the fine print, before and after applications.

MASTERCARD BENEFITS FOR THE CITI PRESTIGE® CARD (US)
MasterCard is the Service Provider for the MasterCard Benefits


INTERNATIONAL COMPLIMENTARY NIGHT HOTELS AND RESORTS PROGRAM TERMS AND CONDITIONS
You will enjoy a complimentary fourth night with no black-out dates, when you book four consecutive nights at any hotel booked by a personal travel advisor designated by MasterCard (the "designated travel advisor" is Carlson Wagonlit Travel). Bookings made through other methods such as, travel agents, websites or directly with a hotel will not qualify.


To receive your complimentary night (via a statement credit) you must:

• Make a reservation for a minimum, consecutive four-night stay by contacting the Citi Prestige Concierge, to book directly with a designated travel advisor
• Fully pay for your stay with a Citi Prestige Card

Receive one complimentary night (room rate for the fourth night and applicable taxes only) for any consecutive four-night hotel stay booked directly with a MasterCard designated travel advisor. Hotel imposed fees and incidental guest charges are the Cardmember's responsibility. The value of the complimentary night will be the actual rate, as provided by the designated travel advisor, on that fourth night of the reservation, even if the rate is different from the rate on other nights. Cardmember will be charged the total cost of the stay at checkout and will receive a credit to the credit card statement for the cost of the fourth night (and the applicable taxes). If the cardmember books a special "pre-paid" rate this may require upfront payment in full, at time of booking. Payment in full is defined as pre-payment for the total of all four consecutive nights. Only one complimentary night is eligible per each stay. A stay is consecutive nights booked and stayed on one reservation and does not include back-to back stays. Back-to back stays are stays at the same hotel booked on two reservations (as an example, you book four nights at a hotel on one reservation for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and book another four nights on another reservation for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In this situation, you would only be eligible for one complimentary night for the 8 night stay). Rates provided will be equal to or lower than the lowest publicly-available fare at the hotel's official website. The benefit can only be used by the primary account cardholder.


Statement Credit for Hotel Program
Fulfillment
All statement credits will be reflected on the Citi Prestige card statement as being a result of the Program and will appear within two billing periods following the month in which travel was completed; or in the case of promotional "pre-paid" that are paid in full as described above, rates the credit will be reflected within two billing periods following the date of payment in full of the "pre-paid" rate. Foreign exchange conversion rates may fluctuate resulting in slight differences in amount credited.


Cancellations and Reversals
All cancellations must be done through the designated travel advisor. If the reservation is cancelled, any statement credit relative to the offer will be reversed, based upon the eligibility and satisfaction of the terms of the offer. Citi and MasterCard reserve the right to reverse a statement credit including, and without limitation, any refunds, returns, disputes, adjustments or fraudulent card activity.

 

[GettingReady]

Okay, guess I'm missing something here or not understanding or just being dense. Must be my low IQ.

I totally get that it has to be booked by THEM. Carlson Wagonlit Travel. It's the fact that the T&Cs said it was for ANY hotel (booked by them) and then I was told it had to be a hotel they contract with--thus it's only available for certain hotels or chains.

The one CSR I spoke with agreed with me about the discrepancy and wrote up a ticket. I asked her if someone would get back with me and she said no, but if enough people complained then they would have to address it.

 

[sriki]

Okay, guess I'm missing something here or not understanding or just being dense. Must be my low IQ.

I totally get that it has to be booked by THEM. Carlson Wagonlit Travel. It's the fact that the T&Cs said it was for ANY hotel (booked by them) and then I was told it had to be a hotel they contract with--thus it's only available for certain hotels or chains.

The one CSR I spoke with agreed with me about the discrepancy and wrote up a ticket. I asked her if someone would get back with me and she said no, but if enough people complained then they would have to address it.

I think you have a point. They said that this benefit applies only when they make the reservation but convinientky ignored the part about not being able to book at every hotel.

 

[GettingReady]

It looks like they may be back pedaling a little as I never mentioned the first hotel in my last follow up email. I just asked for a list of available hotels I could choose from and then got this with the CAPS by them.

"We received your email, and sent a travel inquiry to our travel specialists, please allow us 24 hours to work on your request. We gave all the details you provided us to our specialists so they can gather the information correctly. The hotel that you previously requested, does qualify for the 4th night benefit. The problem is, it is FULLY BOOKED for those dates."

I don't mean to beat a dead horse but is interesting that they're now saying the hotel does qualify for the fourth night meaning some hotels don't qualify for the fourth night. As far as the hotel being fully booked, I have correspondence from several CSRs and they have rooms available. They have even helped me some train information and schedules. We're not talking a category 10 hotel here. We picked it for the location on the Rhine and wanting to get a balcony room with a view. With the larger room, breakfast, and taxes it's 110 euros. We haven't been to Germany in 10 years but we know the area and where the hotel is at.

 

[sriki]

It looks like they may be back pedaling a little as I never mentioned the first hotel in my last follow up email. I just asked for a list of available hotels I could choose from and then got this with the CAPS by them.

"We received your email, and sent a travel inquiry to our travel specialists, please allow us 24 hours to work on your request. We gave all the details you provided us to our specialists so they can gather the information correctly. The hotel that you previously requested, does qualify for the 4th night benefit. The problem is, it is FULLY BOOKED for those dates."

I don't mean to beat a dead horse but is interesting that they're now saying the hotel does qualify for the fourth night meaning some hotels don't qualify for the fourth night. As far as the hotel being fully booked, I have correspondence from several CSRs and they have rooms available. They have even helped me some train information and schedules. We're not talking a category 10 hotel here. We picked it for the location on the Rhine and wanting to get a balcony room with a view. With the larger room, breakfast, and taxes it's 110 euros. We haven't been to Germany in 10 years but we know the area and where the hotel is at.

I think it was frequent miler who was able to get connected to a wagon lit rep through Citi rep phone line. I don't know if that direct line would change anything but atleast if the hotels is very popular, this could save time and might avoid the situation where the hotel gets completely booked. Though, I do not know if that's what happened in your case.

 

[henrygeorge]

Which city are you staying in? We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Mainz over the summer.

 

[GettingReady]

Which city are you staying in? We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Mainz over the summer.

We'll be in Boppard. It's where my husband's family is from, so we're staying there 9 days. The plan was for me to book 4 days with my Prsstige card and for him to book 5 days with his Prestige card. Correction: initial plan was to use Barclay until we remembered about the 4th free night with Prestige.

We have hotels figured out in Rome (hopefully will have enough Hilton), but need 3 nights in Venice. Know of any places? Also need some nights in Frankfurt but looks like there's some SPG places there.

 

[GettingReady]

Email from hotel said they never heard from Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Commented that they might have gone through booking.com and they require 5 day mininum with them and rates are higher due to 15% fees.

 

[sriki]

We'll be in Boppard. It's where my husband's family is from, so we're staying there 9 days. The plan was for me to book 4 days with my Prsstige card and for him to book 5 days with his Prestige card. Correction: initial plan was to use Barclay until we remembered about the 4th free night with Prestige.

We have hotels figured out in Rome (hopefully will have enough Hilton), but need 3 nights in Venice. Know of any places? Also need some nights in Frankfurt but looks like there's some SPG places there.

I heard good things about the Hilton in Venice. Unfortunately, we could not stay there and ended up staying at the Marriott which isn't bad. Yhey arranged a tour of the glass making factory and have a good backyard.

 

[GettingReady]

Thanks, Sriki. It's unlikely we'll have enough points for the Hilton in Venice. We have a Marriott card pending, but was going to use it at a hotel where a family reunion is being held. IF we get it, we could switch and use it in Venice and pay for US hotel. Chase doesn't seem to like us although they were our first apps. Any idea how far in advance hotel reservations in EU need to be made?

FYI, for any who may be doubt, no big ruckus made with Prestige/Carlson. I've just suggested that the terms be clearer and state a partner hotel if there's restrictions on the 4th night reservation. It's their contract, their terms. They can do what they want. It just needs to be written in a way that the average consumer can understand. Course the average consumer probably wouldn't pay $450 AF though, and if they did the 4th free night wouldn't be a biggie. Now they want to call me today....

 

[smittytabb]

Thanks, Sriki. It's unlikely we'll have enough points for the Hilton in Venice. We have a Marriott card pending, but was going to use it at a hotel where a family reunion is being held. IF we get it, we could switch and use it in Venice and pay for US hotel. Chase doesn't seem to like us although they were our first apps. Any idea how far in advance hotel reservations in EU need to be made?

FYI, for any who may be doubt, no big ruckus made with Prestige/Carlson. I've just suggested that the terms be clearer and state a partner hotel if there's restrictions on the 4th night reservation. It's their contract, their terms. They can do what they want. It just needs to be written in a way that the average consumer can understand. Course the average consumer probably wouldn't pay $450 AF though, and if they did the 4th free night wouldn't be a biggie. Now they want to call me today....

Award rooms are often capacity controlled. The hotel could be half empty, but if only a certain number of rooms are apportioned for awards and someone has booked them, it doesn't matter. It really varies by chain and by property. I got last room availability recently at a Choice Hotel at O'Hare during an snowstorm when the airport was shut down. It was literally the last room in the hotel and I got it on points. That is not always the case with every situation.

If you are going during the high season, I would not wait to book.

In terms of the Chase issue, even if it is your first application with them, if you have been getting a lot of cards in the last quarter, you could have trouble. Also note that if the Marriott for the reunion has a large room block, it could be harder to get an award during that time. Also, room blocks are usually discounted rooms, so it may well be a situation where you may not get as good a value using points, but rather want to use cash for the rooms.

What are you hoping to gain from the complaint to Citi about the wording of the 4th night free?

 

[GettingReady]

Award rooms are often capacity controlled. The hotel could be half empty, but if only a certain number of rooms are apportioned for awards and someone has booked them, it doesn't matter. It really varies by chain and by property. I got last room availability recently at a Choice Hotel at O'Hare during an snowstorm when the airport was shut down. It was literally the last room in the hotel and I got it on points. That is not always the case with every situation.

If you are going during the high season, I would not wait to book.

In terms of the Chase issue, even if it is your first application with them, if you have been getting a lot of cards in the last quarter, you could have trouble. Also note that if the Marriott for the reunion has a large room block, it could be harder to get an award during that time. Also, room blocks are usually discounted rooms, so it may well be a situation where you may not get as good a value using points, but rather want to use cash for the rooms.

What are you hoping to gain from the complaint to Citi about the wording of the 4th night free?

This is the first time of booking/using rewards. wasn't sure if I had to wait until I had all the rewards available before I book a room or not. Good point about the Marriott. It is a block of rooms at a discount rate and thus probably not the best use of points. As Sriki mentioned, I might be able to use them for Venice IF we get the card. I know way back when (July) we applied with Chase. I was approved for the CSP, hubs denied because I had made him AU on my account. We were both denied for the Ink. It was our first CC applications in over 6 years and we both had CSs over 800. Marriott is the first Chase app since then and dh has a lot less pulls than I do. Figured it was worth a shot with his last AoR. I submitted his first thinking he might get an instant approval. Wrong.

I was not complaining per se with Citi, I just wanted to understand the term and/or limitations for future bookings. That was why I contacted them when I was told the hotel we chose was not a partner. I wanted to know how to find out the partners. I didn't want to waste a lot of time picking out a hotel for the 4th night, only to be told it didn't qualify, and have to start all over again. That was before I knew about the website link Sriki gave me. Although the link gives a list of hotels, the hotel information (for the ones I tried) was not available.

 

[smittytabb]

This is the first time of booking/using rewards. wasn't sure if I had to wait until I had all the rewards available before I book a room or not. Good point about the Marriott. It is a block of rooms at a discount rate and thus probably not the best use of points. As Sriki mentioned, I might be able to use them for Venice IF we get the card. I know way back when (July) we applied with Chase. I was approved for the CSP, hubs denied because I had made him AU on my account. We were both denied for the Ink. It was our first CC applications in over 6 years and we both had CSs over 800. Marriott is the first Chase app since then and dh has a lot less pulls than I do. Figured it was worth a shot with his last AoR. I submitted his first thinking he might get an instant approval. Wrong.

I was not complaining per se with Citi, I just wanted to understand the term and/or limitations for future bookings. That was why I contacted them when I was told the hotel we chose was not a partner. I wanted to know how to find out the partners. I didn't want to waste a lot of time picking out a hotel for the 4th night, only to be told it didn't qualify, and have to start all over again. That was before I knew about the website link Sriki gave me. Although the link gives a list of hotels, the hotel information (for the ones I tried) was not available.

Yeah, I have a hotel I would like to use for the 4th night free. I have already booked in on pointshound since it is not a chain. I looked at CarlsonWagonlit to compare and from what I can gather, I get a better deal just booking it on pointshound. I still need to contact Citi Prestige concierge and have them give me a quote, but I guess I would just say, make sure to do a lot of comparisons as you choose properties, points vs. cash vs. points + cash. Everyone has a different take on this, but I don't always use points for hotels. Sometimes I buy discounted gift cards and use those to pay for the room. Or I am working on a promo and find the extra points worth it. Or the points from the credit card I am using worth it to use that. It can be pretty limiting to only use points for everything and it is not always the best value in every single situation. Just my take on it.

 

[GettingReady]

Okay, here's the scoop with Prestige and the 4th night. It IS free and it does NOT have to be a chain hotel. It just needs to be a hotel willing to work with an agent. The person who called me commented that on a rare occasion they may get a specialty place that doesn't work with a travel agent but that doesn't happen often. The person I initially spoke with looked on a distribution list with chain hotels and didn't see it listed and that's where there was the initial miscommunication.

I did have to talk the person through where to find the booking/inquiry area on the hotel's website. There wasn't a separate area for CC information as they're in the process of working on the website (per CSR at hotel). I also emailed the hotel to let them know. They're VERY good about following up.

When we start traveling in the states, I'll probably get Choice, Wyndham, and BW reward cards.We won't be looking at high end places. I also don't think we'll be flying much after this trip but will use air miles to help the kids out with visiting. As far as traveling in EU and hotels, I'm totally lost. We should be able to get enough points together for Rome leaving just Venice and Frankfurt.

I wimped out and for Eastern EU decided to just go with the Bohemian Tour. Trying to figure out routes, trains, hotels, places to see was just too much and I wasn't sure how much my dh would be involved. It was either that or nothing and he wanted to go ahead with it. Even though I'm still learning, we should be able to cover at least 50% of the OOP expenses.

I appreciate your input, Smittytabb. You have WAY more experience traveling than I do!

 

[smittytabb]

I appreciate your input, Smittytabb. You have WAY more experience traveling than I do!

No problem. It's been one of my lifelong passions and everyone starts somewhere.

 

[TravMomof2]

Do they price match or is the price they quote the best they will do?

 

[smittytabb]

Do they price match or is the price they quote the best they will do?

That's a good question. I am not sure. If they price match, I need to call them about my stay in Accra, Ghana which I have booked on a third party website.

 

[TravMomof2]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, FT maybe, that they have done price matches before so it's always good to ask. If they do, you really can't beat the deal unless they won't book at your hotel of choice.

 

[GettingReady]

OP here. Was going to change the title since I got the 4th night but didn't know how. I received an email from the hotel and a copy of the confirmation they sent to the booking service. There was a 5 day turn around from the service before I heard officially from them that the room has been booked and confirmed.

 

[TravMomof2]

Good to hear. I was trying to wait for a larger (targeted?) signup bonus but I'm sure that's just a pipe dream since I can't even get it on the Citi website so I guess I'll go ahead and apply with the 50K bonus. I'm glad the 4th night benefit worked out. I'm looking forward to using that benefit.

 

[Evan MArks]

I'm planning on signing up for this card. Is there any evidence they will match AAA or AARP rates when booking the hotels?